Summary Of Harlem: The Emergence Of The New Negro

“The Harlem of Inspired Hearts and Minds”
The Emergence of the New Negro

Terrance Baker
Nicole Maurice
Junior Moise

Abstract:

Langston Hughes wrote, "Harlem was like a great magnet for the Negro intellectual, pulling him from everywhere. Or perhaps the magnet was New York, but once in New York, he had to live in Harlem…Harlem was not so much a place as a state of mind, the cultural metaphor for Black America itself (Hughes, 1940)."
With the words from the man that many called the Poet Laureate of Harlem welcome to the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance, a period from the early 1920’s to the mid1930’s in which black music, literature, performance art and politics converged to motivate and stimulate the minds of not only black America,
but also the liberal Caucasians that financed many of the artists of the period. Many prominent and influential African-Africans called Harlem home during the Renaissance period, W.E.B Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Phillip Randolph, Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, and John Coltrane to name a few. Many of the previously mention residents of Harlem were musicians and singers which is why the Harlem Renaissance is associated with great jazz and blues music. The Harlem Renaissance reverberated throughout the 1960’s; the foundation of the modern Civil Rights movement can be traced to this period. W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the founding members of the NAACP and editor of the Crisis magazine, A. Phillip Randolph, founder of the Brotherhood of the Sleeping Car Porters, and Marcus Garvey, founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association, were all residents of Harlem during the Renaissance and help established organizations that influenced the civil rights generation of the 1950’s and 1960’s. To understand the cultural impact of the Harlem Renaissance we must first attempt to explain what the movement was, what time period it covered and how it came about. The Harlem Renaissance was an African American literary and artistic movement centered in Harlem, NY, but the influences came from African American communities across the country (Wintz, 2007), especially the south due to the Great Migration north of large numbers of African American fleeing lynching, segregation, and the poor living conditions of the Jim Crow south. The Harlem Renaissance also called the New Negro Renaissance, the New Negro Movement, and the Negro Renaissance does not have a clear starting date and ending date, but some historians mark the beginning of the Renaissance with the Broadway production of the1921 musical “Shuffle Along” and the end of the Renaissance is marked by the Harlem Riots of 1935 (Beckman, 2002). There was a convergence of forces that brought about the Harlem Renaissance, the near collapse of the southern agricultural economy, a severe labor shortage in the north, the migration of two million African Americans to northern cities in search of work, which also contributed to the musical explosion in Harlem, African Americans questioning their second class citizenship in America after they had fought in and helped win WWI, and black intellectual, such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Alan Locke, making it clear that the time had come for Caucasians in America to take notice of the achievements of African American artists and thinkers were some of the forces that created the Harlem Renaissance (Hilliard, 2010). The intellectuals that were in the forefront of this push to get white Americans to notice and accept the achievements of African Americans were the epitome of the New Negro that had emerged during the Harlem Renaissance. The New Negro was an African American who was politically astute, well educated, and proud of his heritage and believed in one of two dominant philosophies for gaining equal rights in America. One philosophy was defined by Booker T. Washington in his book “A New Negro for a New Century”, “stressed development within the African American community through building up black education, social and economic institutions and focusing on gaining wealth before pursuing equal rights. The second, associated with W.E.B. Du Bois, insisted on confronting segregation and discrimination and demanding immediate equal rights (Wintz, 2007).” Alan Locke, an intellectual leader of the Harlem Renaissance, but not a resident of Harlem, believed that the racial problem could be resolved through culture. Locke believed that the best chance for African Americans to become accepted in America was by exposing white communities to the work of black painters, authors and poets. “The New Negro an Interpretation”, written by Alan Locke, is a collection of essay, stories, poems and pictures by various Renaissance artists and writers, in which the authors define Locke’s new negro philosophy and vision. The music which also defined the Harlem Renaissance was one of the cultural experiences that Alan Locke believed would assist in bringing racial equality. The music of the Harlem Renaissance changed the face of America by attracting large and diverse audiences. Musicians of the Harlem Renaissance became very popular throughout the country. Duke Ellington and his all-black band toured throughout the south and performed in front of sold out white crowds (Wintz, 2007). The blue and jazz of Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Dizzie Gillespie were the most popular music forms in the country during the 1920’s and 1930’s (Beacham, 1994-2005). Jazz was a very powerful integrating force because the popularity of the music drew large integrated crowds to all of the Harlem night spots to listen to the improvisational styles of some of the world’s best jazz musicians. The Savoy and the Cotton Club were two very popular night spots in Harlem in which integrated crowds began to share some of the same experiences in a social setting, which for the first time was dominated by the African American culture. Blues and Jazz beats were also the background music for many of the Renaissance poets and spoken word performances. Langston Hughes was the best known user of music to accompany his many poems on subjects such as failed romance, loneliness, and sexual desire (Beacham, 1994-2005). The music of the Harlem Renaissance has stood the test of time and is still listened to and enjoyed today some 80 years after it was originally recorded. The music and musician of the Harlem Renaissance played an important role in bridging the gap between white America and black America, but it was the work, leadership and vision of some of Harlem’s prominent residents that began to lay the foundation of the modern Civil Rights movement. A. Phillip Randolph (1889-1979) was the first major African American labor leader (Wintz, 2007). Originally a street corner socialist radical, Randolph became the head of the largest black labor union in the country, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Using his magazine the Messenger as a pulpit, A. Phillip Randolph led a successful struggle against the Pullman Company and the discriminatory policies of the American Federation of Labor (Wintz, 2007). In 1937, Randolph and the Brotherhood of the Sleeping Car Porters settled the first contract between a major U.S. company and a black union (Pfeffer, 1990).

“The Brotherhood of the Sleeping Car Porters also helped improve conditions for all African Americans. In June 1941, Randolph convinced President Roosevelt to sign Executive Order 8802, banning discrimination in government-related employment, and to establish the Fair Employment Practices Committee (Pfeffer, 1990).” While A.
Phillip Randolph was organizing the labor movement Marcus Garvey was “articulating a coherent program of black pride, Pan-Africanism and economic self-sufficiency movement (Wintz, 2007). Marcus Garvey (1887-1940), was the founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) in Harlem, which encouraged the followers to direct their attention toward the creation of an autonomous nation state in Africa. “Garvey also organized the Black Star Steamship Corporation, the cornerstone of the UNIA’s efforts to create an integrated community of workers, producers, and consumers with the collective power to improve African American’s economic position globally (Harold, in Harlem Speaks, 2007).” Marcus Garvey’s appealed to the working class Negro in Harlem and eventually around the country as he and his organization established offices in ten cities across the country and at its height had over 1 million members. Garvey’s flame burned brightly for a short period of time during 1916 and 1925, but he transformed the lives of countless blacks by demonstrating what could be accomplished economically with the collective buying power of the black community (Harold, in Harlem Speaks,
2007). One of Marcus Garvey’s loudest critics was W.E.B Du Bois of the NAACP, who encourage African Americans to stop making investments in Garvey’s Black Star Line (Harold, in Harlem Speaks, 2007). W.E.B Du Bois (1868-1963), credentials during the Harlem Renaissance are extensive; author, editor and intellectual, Du Bois coined the phrase “talented tenth” (Beacham, 1994-2005). According to Du Bois the top ten percent of the African American community is highly educated, culturally adept and politically astute and would lead the rest of the African American race into better lives (Beacham, 1994-2005). Editor of the Crisis magazine which published many Renaissance writers and poet and the author of “the Souls of Black Folks”, W.E.B. Du Bois’ literary contributions to the Harlem Renaissance have stood the test of time, but Du Bois’ desire to uplift the race through education is where his legacy truly transcends time. The members of the Talented Tenth that Dubois had organized became the members of the Niagara Movement, and the Niagara movement was the precursor of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) which to this day is one of the leading civil rights organizations in America (Gaines, in Harlem Speaks, 2007). W.E.B. Du Bois’ NAACP organization, A. Phillip Randolph’s Brotherhood of the Sleeping Car Porter labor union, and Marcus Garvey’s UNIA were all organizations that were formed during the Harlem Renaissance and were very influential reasons why the Harlem Renaissance affected the U.S. political culture and the modern civil rights movement well into the 1960’s. First, “the Harlem Renaissance helped shape the future of civil rights activities due to the integrationist overtures and early calls for interracial cooperation (PBS, 1998).” The Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s was one of the first instances in the 20th century when Caucasian supporters of social reform collaborated with African American intellectuals, social activists, educators, and artists in attempts to transform a largely segregated and racist American society. The Harlem Renaissance, with its ideological invitations to interracial problem solving, had long lasting repercussions on American race relations well into the 1950s and beyond (PBS, 1998). Clearly, the political ferment of Harlem influenced the black civil rights lawyers, such as Thurgood Marshall, and the young college students from North Carolina A & T who began the freedom rides and the sit-ins in the 1960s (Arsenault, 2006). Secondly, the Harlem Renaissance changed the image of African-Americans in the main stream culture. “Many of the intellectuals, creative writers, and artists of the Harlem Renaissance believed one of the purposes of the black arts movement was the creation of more positive images of African Americans than had generally existed in American culture before the 1920s. Racism in America would be undermined not only through protest against racist practices, but also by changing the prevailing images and associations that European Americans, especially educated European Americans, had about Black people. The Harlem Renaissance is generally credited with heightening awareness of the cultural contributions that African and African American people have made to American culture, specifically in music, dance, poetry, and speech, as well as in agriculture, medicine, and inventions (PBS, 1998).” The social and cultural contribution of the individuals that lived during the Harlem Renaissance is undeniable. The major political theme of the Harlem Renaissance was the rebirth of a people, and the creation of the New Negro, by disseminating positive images of African Americans as contributors to American Culture, many of these Harlem Renaissance intellectuals hoped to raise the self-esteem of Black people themselves (PBS, 1998). “A people with a higher self-esteem would be more resistant to segregation and discrimination, and more willing to challenge the system than those who were demoralized (PBS, 1998).” Du Bois even coined the phrase, ‘"all art is propaganda"’ to reflect his view that the purpose of an art movement among African Americans was to combat the negative propaganda against the Negro coming from racist America with a positive propaganda for the Negro (PBS, 1998). African Americans of the Harlem Renaissance made a statement collectively as a people that we have the ability to contribute to the fabric of America in many different ways; socially, politically, and economically. As the Langston Hughes poem states, “I, too, am America.”
I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I 'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody 'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.

Besides,
They 'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

References

Arsenault, R. (2006). Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice. New York, NY: Oxford University Press

Beckman, W. (2002). Artists and Writers of the Harlem Renaissance. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc.

Beacham, W. (1994-2005). Harlem Renaissance. The Gale Group, Inc.

Hilliard, K. (2010). The Impact of the music of the harlem renaissance on society. Retrieved from http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1989/1/89.01.05.x.html

Hughes, L. (1940). The Big Sea: An Autobiography. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc

PBS, (February 20, 1998). Online News Hour: Harlem Renaissance. Retrieved March 15, 2010,http://www.pbs.org/newshour/forum/february98/harlem2.html

Pfeffer, P. (1990). A. Philip Randolph, Pioneer of the Civil Rights Movement. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press
Wintz, C. (2007). Harlem Speaks: A Living History of the Harlem Renaissance. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, Inc.